Behavioral Health Assisted Outpatient Treatment

Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) is a civil, legal procedure in which a court can order individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) to follow a treatment plan in the community. The goal of AOT is to improve access and adherence to behavioral health services and thereby avert relapses, repeated hospitalizations, arrests, suicides, and so on. In California, AOT takes the form of Laura’s Law, which was passed in 2002. To qualify for the program, the individual must have a SMI as well as a recent history of psychiatric hospitalizations, imprisonments, or violent acts or threats of violence toward him/herself or others.

Assisted Outpatient Treatment (AOT) is a civil, legal procedure in which a court can order individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) to follow a treatment plan in the community. The goal of AOT is to improve access and adherence to behavioral health services and thereby avert relapses, repeated hospitalizations, arrests, suicides, and so on. In California, AOT takes the form of Laura’s Law, which was passed in 2002. To qualify for the program, the individual must have a SMI as well as a recent history of psychiatric hospitalizations, imprisonments, or violent acts or threats of violence toward him/herself or others.